Teachers' Lounge

High school physics & Earth science teacher Sam Watt gives us the lowdown on how to teach STEM labs remotely when you just have a few springs, tubes, and pencils!

Special Education teacher Jessica Sperry gives us an education on what it's like teaching special needs students...during a pandemic!

As we wind down 2021, we take a look back at three of our favorite conversations with educators this year.

Two science teachers talk trying to conduct science labs remotely and not knowing if your students were paying attention or there at all!

Champion drag queen & mental health educator Moana Lotte joins Teachers' Lounge.

Learn about Joel's journey through addiction, abuse and prison to becoming a renowned counselor and educator.

Learn about Chris Tennyson's journey from cop to the classroom

West Chicago High School English teacher Brian Turnbaugh talks about how he's grown as an educator through the pandemic and his podcast WeGo Places that highlights his former students who went on to do great things.

Psychology teacher and eSports coach Jeff Pitner returns to talk video games, Critical Race Theory, and how COVID-19 has affected how his students interact with each other and his class.

Psychology teacher and eSports coach Jeff Pitner returns to talk video games, Critical Race Theory, and how COVID-19 has affected how his students interact with each other and his class.

Guilford High School psychology teacher Jeff Pitner joins the show to talk about how COVID-19 has changed the social dynamics of his classroom and the top-tier eSports team he coaches.

Peter talks his mom into joining the podcast to discuss her 17 years as a teacher and what it's like completely changing careers in your 40s.

Educator and author of books like "The Brown Teacher's Guide To Education" joins Teachers' Lounge to talk self-love, pandemic teaching and engaging with your creativity.

Education during COVID-19 has been really hard. But it's been uniquely challenging for our youngest students. Hear firsthand how teachers tried to get them the help they need in a year when it was the hardest to do that.

On a new Teachers' Lounge, we talk to a professor about teaching people in prison about psychology and childhood trauma and why she's leading a new bachelor's degree program at Big Muddy Correctional Center.

DeKalb elementary school principal Rheon Gibson enters Teachers' Lounge to talk about his children's book series 'Dizz Wizz' and starting as a principal during COVID.

Retired NIU counseling professor Scott Wickman sits down with Peter to talk about what it takes to help people process trauma and why he's trying to train the squirrels in his backyard.

Students and teachers just finished a school year like no other. Join us for a conversation about the unique challenges and successes of the COVID school year on a special Teachers’ Lounge LIVE. Host Peter Medlin talks to Sycamore Superintendent Steve Wilder, Byron High School teacher Mike McHale and DeKalb High School senior Brayten Wilkerson.

Today on the show we have a school social worker -- Silvia Hudzik! She’s a social worker for middle school students at Rockford Public Schools, she’s had the chance to talk to dozens and dozens of students online and in-person throughout COVID.

Today on the show we have not just a teacher, but a teacher of teachers! Dr. Laurie Elish-Piper is the Dean of the College of Education at Northern Illinois University. We talked about what drives her to want to help mold the next generation of teachers, how today’s aspiring teachers are different than 10 years ago, her career-spanning literacy work and how COVID-19 has changed how student teacher...

On a new episode of Teachers’ Lounge: Marcel Walker! He’s a comic book artist and art teacher extraordinaire. Marcel helped create the educational comic series “CHUTZ-POW! Superheroes of the Holocaust” with the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh and works with “ToonSeum" -- a museum of comics and cartoons.

On a new Teachers’ Lounge, Dr. Laurie Cooper Stoll: sociology professor at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. She’s also an author who studies social inequalities, gendered violence and fat studies -- which is primarily what we talked about on this episode. She also has a website and blog she runs with a colleague, Dr. Darci Thoune, called “Two Fat Professors” where they fight fatphobia with e...

On a new episode of Teachers' Lounge, Lissette Jacobson and Maurice McDavid! They’re elementary school principals in West Chicago and the hosts of the podcast “Black, Brown & Bilingüe”! They talked to Peter about the mission of their show – uniting the Black and Brown communities with conversations & education. We covered identity and intersectionality and what it means in education, Illinois’ cul...

On a new Teachers’ Lounge, we have an entire family of teachers --the Goekes! Karl, Stacy and Rachel join Peter to talk about their experiences as educators going through the pandemic. We talked about how in-person school “normalcy” isn’t really that normal at all.

On a new episode of Teachers' Lounge: Jackie Cleven! She’s a second-grade teacher at South Prairie Elementary in Sycamore and teaches at Kishwaukee College. Longtime Teachers’ Lounge fans may remember Jackie as the first guest who was ever on this show. She shared a personal essay about how she feels at the end of the school year. Host Peter Medlin always felt a little bad because she’s our only g...